Timeloop
by KaydenceRei
Summary: Post-The Incident. Sawyer believes he's entered his own personal hell. After the bomb goes off he's forced to relive different events. Each time Juliet dies and each time things reset to a different day. Can he save her, or is this his life now?


**Author's Note**: Fortunately work has been rather boring. Unfortunately.. I haven't been very good at remembering where the previous chapters in my stories left off so instead you guys got a one-shot. Haha.

This story is for **se34201**, who asked for a one-shot. This happens to be what I've been working on at work!! Hope you like it!!

**Timeloop**:

"_Let's leave, oh let's get away, get lost in time._

_Let's leave, oh let's get away, run in fields of time._

_Where there's no reason left to hide."_

_**-Hide **by **Creed**_

What the hell had just happened? That was the first question that ran through Sawyer's mind. The second question was.. who the hell had their arms wrapped around him? Juliet was dead. She'd died mere moments before that flash of light. Now he was afraid to turn and look at who was spooning with him.

"What's wrong?"

Sawyer felt his eyes widen slightly as he turned in the bed and came face to face with Juliet. Had he dreamed the entire thing? Her worried eyes were tearing through him and he felt like running to the bathroom and retching, relieving his stomach of its contents because the image of her dying seemed so fresh in his mind.

"James.." she said softly, reaching her hand out to touch his cheek. She felt a little piece of her tear apart when he moved away and got off of the bed. She paused and glanced over at the phone as it rang. Sawyer didn't seem to be picking it up, so instead she reached over for it. "Hello?"

She glanced over at Sawyer. "It's Jin," she stated, holding the phone out to him.

"Tell him I'll meet him in the North Valley.." Sawyer told her.

Juliet frowned slightly in response. Sawyer couldn't even look at her right now, and she couldn't figure out for the life of her what she could have possibly done to piss him off like this. "He.. says to meet him in the North Valley.." she told Jin. She listened to the confusion of the other man for a moment before hanging up the phone.

By the time she looked up again Sawyer was gone from the bedroom and she groaned before getting up and throwing on clothes. "James!" she called out, following after him. She got him just as he was about to open the front door. "James, what the hell is going on?"

"Knock it off!" Sawyer growled out, turning to look at her. All he could see were the teary blue eyes and all he could see was the image of her hand letting go of his. Her screams echoed in his head. "Just.. go away."

Juliet snapped her mouth shut in response, holding back a comment as she watched him walk out the door and she saw Amy then standing there with the baby. The look of shock on Amy's face was enough for her to want to strangle somebody. Her and Sawyer hardly fought, and never in front of anyone. Now he didn't want to be around her and she had no idea why.

"What happened?" Amy asked softly, heading over to Juliet.

Juliet shook her head. "I.. have no idea."

_The next night_ was intense. Ever since Kate, Jack and Hurley came back and Sayid got captured as a hostile things had been relatively quiet. Sawyer found himself sitting on a bench, staring at his and Juliet's house. He knew that right about now she'd be sitting on the couch reading a book and he only bothered to glance away when someone sat down next to him.

"Amy tells me you and Juliet got in a fight yesterday morning.." Horace stated.

Sawyer arched an eyebrow up at the other man. "Not exactly.." he replied. Though he could see now why Juliet would think he was angry with her. He'd barely spoken with her other then to ask her to get the other survivor's names on the manifest. "Maybe.." he stated next, rubbing his eyes with both hands.

Both men froze and looked up at the sudden light that streaked past them.

"Oh my god--" Horace mumbled, standing quickly.

The damned bus. It couldn't have been a dream. The bus was flying past them on fire, but its direction had changed. Instead it rammed into _his_ house. _Their_ house. With Juliet inside. "JULIET!!" he screamed out, getting up immediately and running towards the house. The house had gone up in flames almost immediately and he was at the window in seconds.

"Jim! JIM!" Horace yelled, grabbing the other man's arm.

"Get the hell offa' me," Sawyer growled out before breaking the window in and shaking Horace's hand off his arm. He climbed through the window and saw Juliet immediately. Lying on the floor, unmoving right near the bus. "Juliet!" he yelled, running over to her and dodging flames as he went. There was no way in hell this could be happening.

Instead, just as he reached for her, everything lit up white.

~*~*~*~

Sawyer froze, glancing around. What the hell was that? He still had time to save her. Juliet died at the damned Swan, not because of the bus! But as he looked around he realized they were on the beach. Steve, Frodo, Neil, whatever his name was, was ranting and raving.

He locked eyes with Juliet for a moment. She didn't remember anything? He'd watched her die _twice_ now. The damned hippie bus wasn't supposed to hit _their_ house, it was supposed to hit a completely different house. He saw the small smile she gave him and he tried his best to return it. For the love of god, they were flashing through time again..

He couldn't even kiss her. They weren't anywhere near being together yet. All he knew now was that if things kept going the way they were, she was going to die again. He needed to stop that from happening.

"We can't even get _FIRE_!"

Sawyer watched as Juliet moved to confront Neil. He froze. Neil was about to die from a flaming arrow. If Juliet--- he didn't hesitate. He grabbed Juliet's hand and pulled her back towards him just as the flaming arrow shot passed her face and hit Neil in the chest.

Juliet stared in shock and both her and Sawyer stared back in the direction the arrows were now shooting from.

"Split up!" Sawyer yelled out. It was the only thing he could think to yell. He knew better now then to tell everyone to head for the creek. Everyone would get killed save for a select few. It took him a moment to realize he'd lost Juliet in the crowd. He quickly helped someone to their feet and ran them towards the jungle.

He froze and turned around at the same tree he had last time. But this time Juliet wasn't putting out the dead man's flaming body. He searched the area for her but he saw nothing. "JULIET!" he yelled out, looking around. "JULIET!"

Finally he caught sight of blonde hair by another tree not too far off and he quickly ran towards her. His approach became faster when he noticed that she wasn't hiding behind the tree. She was pinned to it by an arrow. "Sonuvabitch!!" he growled out, stepping in front of her and placing his hand under her chin. He raised her face so that she was looking at him and her eyes were glassy, ready to burst with tears.

She was still alive. Suffering. "Relax," he told her, placing both hands on either side of her face. "Yer' gonna be fine, blondie.." he told her.

Juliet just shook her head. "Don't.. lie.." she muttered. "Go.."

"I'm not leavin' ya' here.." he told her quickly.

Juliet nearly froze as his lips met hers. Her eyes softened slightly as he pulled away but the confusion was apparent.

"I love you," he told her quickly.

Juliet choked, trying to catch her own breath. Not only was it getting hard to breathe but he'd just said something unthinkable to her. He didn't even like her. What the hell was he talking about? "Wh..at?"

Sawyer stared at the arrow pinning her to the tree and he wanted to kill every single person out there shooting those arrows. "I know you don't understand," he told her. "But just believe me," he begged, watching as her eyes dimmed and faded.

The white light shot out once again.

~*~*~*~

'_No chance in hell_..' were now his first thoughts as he and Juliet wandered through the path back towards the beach. He remembered this. They were going back to save Sayid, Bernard and Jin. They came to a stop behind the treeline, watching as Tom and the other men had their three people kneeling on the ground.

He took a moment to realize how close together they were and he frowned. Even back in these days they had watched each others backs. Why was he only just now realizing this?

None of this made sense. How could he save her when he didn't know how she would die? So far she had died three different ways right before him. It was then he heard the sound coming from the jungle. Hurley in the hippie bus! He quickly pulled Juliet to him as Hurley zoomed by them.

"What the hell?" Juliet muttered, watching the van fly by them with Hurley in the driver's seat. It took another moment for her to realize Sawyer had his arms wrapped tight around her. "Come on.." she stated quickly, pulling away and heading towards the van.

Sawyer followed her quickly, grabbing a large piece of wood from one of the ruined camps and keeping Hurley in the van. As he turned he watched as Sayid killed the man by breaking his neck with his feet and he relaxed a little. This was at least happening all the right way this time. At least until he remembered something else. He turned around just in time to watch Tom pick up the gun that Juliet tried to grab first.

"Sonuva--"

"Move and I shoot her," Tom stated, inching himself behind Juliet.

Juliet found her feet glued to the sand beneath her feet. As if any of these people cared if Tom shot her? They'd all been wanting to do the same thing anyways.

Sawyer raised his hands up in surrender, clearly surprising the three tied up survivor's. From the look in Juliet's eyes, she seemed even more shocked. If only she knew what he knew, then she wouldn't be so shocked. "Alright, calm down Mr. Friendly.." he muttered.

Tom arched an eyebrow up slightly before raising his walkie up with his free hand. "Ben."

Juliet took a deep breath. This was bad.

It took a minute but finally Ben's voice came over the walkie. "_Go ahead Tom_."

"I've got Juliet.." Tom stated.

There was an unsurmountable moment of silence that took place after that statement before Ben spoke again. "_Kill her_."

Tom was shocked. "What?"

"_I said, kill her,_" Ben responded. "_She's not one of us anymore. She's on _their_ side," _he assured Tom. "_Shoot her._"

Tom was silent for a moment before placing the walkie back at his waist. "Sorry Julie.."

Sawyer barely got to object, to try and stop Tom when the gunshot rang out. Before he could take a step the white light covered them.

~*~*~*~

By this point Sawyer wished _he_ would just die. It was as if he was in his own personal purgatory, forced to watch Juliet die over and over again no matter what he tried to do to stop it. He shook the thoughts off realizing he had his hand protectively in front of someone. He recognized this scene almost immediately.

Danny had his gun trained on them. He found his eyes wandering behind the man and he saw Juliet emerge behind him.

"Danny!!"

Sawyer froze. No. Danny didn't hesitate to turn and shoot at whoever's voice rang out. All of them watched as Juliet dropped to the ground. He cursed to himself now. Watching as Alex tackled Danny and Kate grabbed the gun. Instead of helping the two of them he found himself going to Juliet's side and kneeling down beside her.

Juliet was genuinely shocked as she saw Sawyer's face now appear above her. She figured he would have just left her for dead, what did he care what happened to her?

Sawyer pressed his hands to the wound in her stomach tightly and locked eyes with her brilliant blue ones. "Yer' gonna be alright, blondie.."

"Sawyer!! Come on!!" Kate yelled.

Sawyer glanced back at Kate. "No chance in hell, Freckles.." he growled out before glancing back down at Juliet. She seemed more then a little shocked at his actions. "She just wants to go home like us. Ain't that right?" he questioned, giving her a small smile.

Juliet released a shaky laugh. "Got me.. all figured out, don't you.. cowboy?"

Alex sat down beside them silently, staring at Juliet with worry. For three years since the blonde had been here she'd become one of the few people she could talk to about her father. She couldn't lose that.

"Yeah," Sawyer muttered. "Yer' just tryin' to get home to your sister."

Juliet was silent for a moment. "Rachel.." she mumbled, her eyes closing.

"Sonuvabitch," Sawyer growled, shaking his head. "Keep yer' damned eyes open Juliet," he told her, practically commanded.

There was no answer. No reply. But a moment later her eyes flicked open and she stared up at him silently, realization dawning on her of _who_ he really was. "James.."

Sawyer saw the recognition flash in her eyes and he couldn't help but grin. "Right here sweetheart."

Kate arched both eyebrows up in response to that.

The small smile that came across her face was almost heavenly for him. Until he saw them dimming, fading. "Stay with me, Juliet.."

"Love you.." she muttered.

Alex stared in shock.

Sawyer felt anger welling up inside. He was losing her again. "I love you back.." he stated softly, leaning his forehead against hers.

White lit up in the sky again.

~*~*~*~

Sawyer froze instantly. He was standing with Kate and Juliet, listening to Rose and Bernard talking about each other and how being together was all that mattered. He felt his gaze shift to Juliet almost immediately and he noticed her smiling at him. Was that what he had to do? Did he have to tell her he loved her back to get back to this day and _truly_ save her?

He could only grin in response. Kate had never looked at him the way Juliet was right now. He didn't know why he ever decided to dwell on the past after listening to Rose and Bernard the first time, when what he had now was better then anything else. "Ya' here that blondie?" he asked with a grin, noticing as she chuckled lightly in response.

Rose and Bernard glanced between the two and shook their heads with knowing smiles. "Don't go getting yourselves killed out there," Rose chided softly. "You don't want to lose what you have."

Sawyer glanced at Rose and Bernard before looking back at Juliet. "Why don't you stay here?" he questioned.

Juliet arched both eyebrows in response. "What?"

Sawyer grabbed her hand and pulled her aside. "I can't lose you again, blondie.."

"Again?" Juliet asked with uncertainty. "James I--"

"Please," Sawyer said next. "Not accustomed to begging, ya' know that," he told her. "But you go out there, yer' gonna die."

Juliet was silent in response. Something about the way his eyes looked told her he was telling her the truth. Or at least he truly did believe if she went with him that she would die. She nodded her head finally without saying another word.

Sawyer could only smile at her agreement. He hadn't thought he'd get her to agree to it, but if needed he would have dragged her as far away from The Swan as possible. He leaned forward, capturing her lips with his.

Juliet smiled as he pulled away, opening her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

"I love ya'," he told her before turning to walk away.

Juliet stared in a stunned silence. It was rare for him to say those three words first. "I love you back," she muttered, and noticed him turn and smile at her before him and Kate walked off.

"Would you like some tea?" Bernard asked her, holding out a cup.

Juliet smiled. "I'd love some.." she answered, following the two inside their little house.

It was a few hours later that Juliet found herself getting fidgety. No matter how much she enjoyed the company of the older couple, she couldn't stop worrying.

"You know why he wanted you to stay here, don't you?" Rose questioned, placing her hand on Juliet's shoulder.

Juliet glanced at the older woman with clear confusion across her face.

"Because you died at the Swan station," Rose informed her.

"What?" Juliet asked immediately.

Rose sighed, glancing at Bernard who nodded before turning back to Juliet. "This has already happened once before," she informed the blonde. "You've died five times," she explained.

Juliet stared at her in stunned silence.

"Every time you died, things got reset," she explained. "Because Sawyer had to figure out what to do." She smiled sadly. "Most people would have lived that nightmare forever, watching the person they loved die over and over and never know how to save them."

Juliet felt her heart drop slightly. What Rose said should have been hard to believe, but it wasn't. It wasn't because after time-traveling, whose to say there was no such thing as a time-loop?

"Juliet!"

Juliet stood up immediately at hearing Sawyer's voice outside. She quickly went out the door and found herself staring at Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Miles and Hurley. "Hey.." she said softly, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Heya back, blondie.." Sawyer said with a grin, walking to her and pulling her into his arms.

**()()END()()**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it. I know it was a pretty dark story filled with tons of angst and tragedy. But I know how much you freaks like that. :P**


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